Top 8 differences between Honda Hness CB350 and Meteor 350

For decades-long, Royal Enfield and Honda are in the game of making motorcycles. 

Founded in 1955, as per CarandBike at the end of 2020, Royal Enfield reported Rs. 2,828 crores revenues.

While in 1946, Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa founded Honda in Hamamatsu, Japan. 

At the close of 2020 and as per Honda’s financial report Honda Motorcycles reported 490.8 billion yen in revenues which are US$ 4.5 billion.

However, we now compare their two newly launched models Royal Enfield Meteor 350 and Honda’s CB350, aka H’ness, on paper.

• The new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 enters the US
• All about the Honda Hness 350
• 2021 Royal Enfield Himalayan starts arriving at dealers
• Honda India to introduce a new model CB350RS

Honda Hness CB350 Engine 

After 47 years, Honda Motorcycles India now has resurrected the CB350. The new CB350 was developed with the help of nine new patents.

350cc crank

We can see some cues taken from the old retro CB350, like the style dual-tone paint scheme.

The BS6 compliant 350cc, four-stroke, parallel-twin engine motor makes around 20.8 bhp@ 5500 rpm and max torque of 30Nm@3000 rpm. The CB350 also arrives with the PGM-FI technology.

While the uneven connecting rods make sure there is less loss of energy via combustion. On the other front, the CB350 also has a wall build between the transmission and crankcase, allowing less friction.

Coaxial balancer

The 45mm exhaust gives a favourable balance as it allows control over the exhaust note, making it bolder and refine.

When you push the throttle, the enlargement in the expansion chamber helps give more soothing exhaust notes.

What more the to avert discolouration, the exhaust pipes get double skin treatment.

Assist and Slipper mechanism

Meteor 350 Engine

While the engine is 349cc, a single-cylinder, air-cooled, the long-stroke motor makes 20.2bhp@ 6100 rpm and 27Nm@ 4000 rpm of peak torque.

Take 80% of max torque for the UCE. The new engine has spread of extra 1000 rpms. In addition to the old 350cc engine, there is high rpm/low vibration, and it is much comfortable to maintain high speeds.

It’s a sort of new Enfield, much smoother with fewer vibrations and refined. With a low-speed character and the exhaust note’s and you are on the traffic signal, you turn around, and you know it’s the Enfield.

349cc motor

The Royal Enfield engineers added the balancer shaft to feel smoother higher up and retain the much character low down the beat.

It has a high torque engine, a signature exhaust note. The Meteor 350 BS6 is very tractable for city work or on the open road and even sustain high-speed cruising.

The feel is like the roadster. Rake angle comes optimised for the long distance and the city commute. The new frame built from scratch. Nothing carried forward.

Honda Hness CB350 Design and Chassis

Smooth lines comprised of an aggressive stance allows it to stand out.

A massive dual-tone fuel tank with a bold Honda Emblem provides a heritage-inspired look that grabs more attention.

The retro Hness CB350 adorns the full LEDs when it comes to headlamps, rear lamp and ring-type blinkers to add a more evocative look.

Tube type frame made up of steel.

The single-piece seat and 15-litre fuel tank are great assists for longer commutes.

Honda engineers have been working hard to stack the entire structure in the half-duplex cradle frame, making the steering joyful.

The engine mounting at the low position has again optimised the load, making the centre of gravity low.

The Hness CB350 carries 181 kgs as kerb weight.

Led head and tail lamp

The CB350 comes with a Steel Tube Type frame supported by Telescopic Suspension at the front and Honda ProLINK mono-shock at the rear.

With Dual-channel ABS, it gets Disc 310mm at front and Disc 240mm at the rear. The front tyre comes with 110/80-19 M/C 59H, and the back has 160/60-17 M/C 69H dimension.

Meteor 350 Design and Chassis

As far as the chassis itself goes, again, Royal Enfield engineers have put multiple efforts to give you a responsive bike, enjoyable to ride at the same time it is secure and reliable.

Further, the new Royal Enfield Meteor 350 gets the tripper pod. It does display intuitively turn by turn directions—powered by Google Maps and the Royal Enfield App that connects smartphones with the motorcycle through Bluetooth. 

Design of Meteor 350

Tripper is a sophisticated navigation solution that indicates directions through an intuitive display system with an additional USB charging port on the bike.

The Meteor 350 comes tested all over the world, the UK, Spain and obviously in India. And the result is a motorcycle is fun and easy to ride. Meteor 350 is a very compliant motorcycle.

While New Royal Enfield Meteor 350 weighs 191 kgs and the fuel capacity is the same as Honda CB350, 15-litre.

A 300mm disc performs the braking duties with a twin-piston floating calliper at the front and a 270mm disc single-piston calliper at the opposite end.

Tripper pod

The front has the telescopic 41mm forks 130mm travel on the suspension front while the rear has twin-tube emulsion with six steps adjustable preload.

Front tyres are 100/90- 19inch 57p tubeless tyre, and the rear tyre is  140/70- 17inch 66p tubeless tyre supported by alloy wheels.

Royal Enfield Meteor 350 price in India is as below.

CB350 Colours and Price

The H’ness, aka CB350, comes in two flavours 

• DLX and
• DLX Pro

The main difference between the two the DLX Pro gets the Honda Smartphone Voice Control system (HSVCS).

H’ness CB350 comes equipped with a complete Bluetooth ecosystem that will facilitate the rider by seamless information exchanges in daily life.

Plus, the Pro gets a dual-tone paint scheme, whereas the standard DLX gets a single tone.

For DLX

• Green Metallic
• Precious Red Metallic

For DLX Pro

• Pearl night star black spear silver metallic
• Matte steel black metallic
• Athletic blue metallic

The Honda H’ness CB350 price starts from Rs 1.85 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes up to Rs 1.90 lakh (ex-showroom)

Meteor 350 Colours and Price

Royal Enfield also brings the mass customisation program, a unique customer-centric program via which Royal Enfield will provide unique personalisation options to customers to configure their motorcycles.

Meteor 350 aims at that generation of rider who loves the classic Royal Enfield thump, the inertia, and the engine’s torque. Who wants to have a little bit more contemporary.

The Fireball comes in Fireball yellow and Fireball red paint schemes. While the Stellar arrives in three paint schemes, Red metallic, Black matte, and Blue metallic. 

The top variant Supernova comes in two paint options – Brown and Blue dual-tone paint schemes.

The Fireball will retail at Rs 1,75,800. Similarly, the Stellar at Rs 1,81,342 and the top variant Supernova at Rs 1,90,536.

Main difference

Both these manufacturers have tried to put their best foot forward while seeing the negligible difference in both these models’ power specs.